Chivas could be coming home

Chivas USA is one victory away from its first home game in this year's U.S. Open Cup, as long as things also go the right way down in Texas in Tuesday's fourth round.

The Goats would play their June 25 quarterfinal match at Home Depot Center against the third-division Charlotte Eagles if both advance.

If Thousand Oaks' Cal FC can overcome another Major League Soccer foe, it might get a third, with a date against the San Jose Earthquakes in San Francisco.

U.S. Soccer on Saturday released the pairings for the quarterfinals. Chivas takes on the second-tier Carolina RailHawks in a round-of-16 game in Cary, N.C., and Cal FC, fresh off its upset of the Portland Timbers, faces three-time defending Open Cup champion Seattle Sounders in Tukwila, Wash.

Chivas also could travel to San Antonio to take on the Scorpions, a first-year team in the second-division North American Soccer League. San Antonio will be home Tuesday against Charlotte, a USL Pro side, and the likeliest results -- note the 99th edition of the Open Cup has had plenty of unlikely results -- would send the Goats to Texas.

Cal FC, if victorious, would play the Minnesota Stars in Blaine, Minn., if the NASL team upsets San Jose on Tuesday night at Stanford University. The Quakes plan to play their quarterfinal at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco.

Chivas has played only two home Open Cup home games, neither at HDC. It lost on penalties to Texas amateurs FC Roma in Santa Barbara in 2006 and beat the second-tier Austin Aztex, 1-0, at Cal State Fullerton two years ago. The Goats lost in their tournament debut, in 2005, to the Galaxy at HDC's Track and Field Stadium. It was L.A.'s home game.

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ABOUT THIS BLOG

Scott French

Orange County native Scott French has been writing about soccer for more than 30 years for dozens of publications and Web sites. He was senior editor at Soccer America and was managing editor of MajorLeagueSoccer Magazine from April 2007 until summer 2009. He has covered three World Cups for the Long Beach Press-Telegram and Los Angeles Daily News, two Women's World Cups for Soccer America, the Olympic Games, European Championship, nine MLS Cups and all five professional women's championships.